Interview by guest curator: James Russell
Hi there friends and neighbors, this is James Russell. This week I have interviewed my dad, Gordon Russell. I thought it would be great that those of us who were his students could get to know a little more about what makes him tick.
Son: Dad how did you first become interested in Art?
Dad: He said very excitedly, “I couldn't do anything else!”
Son: Did you show any special skills at an early age?
Dad: Ya, carving, mostly wood work... in school.
He goes on to say, “I had an aunt who did real good at art, she did watercolors and I thought her work was great. Then I saw the work of Walter Hill and he did oils. He was one of my grandma’s sisters sons and he would come out to the cabin to paint. He was also a trumpet player and a ventriloquist, he had a band and nightclub in Minneapolis with his wife. He was a good artist, I liked him and I liked his work.”
Son: So you were inspired by their work, did you start painting then?
Dad: No, my first art class was not until the first year in college at the University of Minnesota, everything before then was done in pastels because they were cheap in the schools. My teacher picked up my very first pastel and said, “Now this is how a pastel is supposed to look. (And then he shook his head) Ya, pastel was always my favorite. I probably shouldn't tell you this, I was in college for Industrial Arts and had a minor in Fine Arts, but then I thought it might be fun to teach art. School was a lot of work drawing houses, buildings and general architecture. Somewhere there is a Jr. High there is a file cabinet full of my work, I wonder where that is, 37 years worth. I taught Industrial Arts in 1960 until the Mill Levy failed after a couple of years and I had to fill the position of Art Teacher.
Son: Cool, Dad, what was your art like, or what were you in to back in the 60’s?
Dad: We had a very active art program back then. We traveled all over the state to Museums and to raise money we had art shows with clowns, students selling their art work and doing caricatures, which we sold to make money. I would do the scenery for operettas with the students. I must have done 30 of them. You know I met your mother doing the scenery for a local theater group called The Curtain Callers. She loved to do skits. One time she disappeared while we were working on a set and returned dressed as a man with a mustache and did an impromptu drivers ed skit in front of about 30 people and floored them. I made an oil painting of some trees that was 60 ft long and 16 ft high with some help from some of the more talented kids. I made the HMS Pinafore 3 times for the Pirates of Penzance. And one of them was two stories tall and you could stand on top of the wheel house. For Little Abner I made a huge cabin and a cave 30 ft. long, it was so big you could not get it off the stage, we had to take it apart-they couldn't use the gym for months. (Looking off into the distance) That was the biggest art adventure I had ever done. Kids today they don’t know what hard work is, we worked for our art.
Son: Dad you probably have warehouses and warehouses full of your stuff?
Dad: Ya, the basement of the Jr. High is full of my stuff.
Son: Where do you draw your subject matter?
Dad: By looking at things. I would take my motor bikes out in the Snowy's and the Judith's and make sketches and then bring them home and improve them. (Very proudly) I have never bought a card in my life I have always made them by hand with pastels.
Son: Dad, thanks, people in the community are going to love learning more about you.See More
Hi there friends and neighbors, this is James Russell. This week I have interviewed my dad, Gordon Russell. I thought it would be great that those of us who were his students could get to know a little more about what makes him tick.
Son: Dad how did you first become interested in Art?
Dad: He said very excitedly, “I couldn't do anything else!”
Son: Did you show any special skills at an early age?
Dad: Ya, carving, mostly wood work... in school.
He goes on to say, “I had an aunt who did real good at art, she did watercolors and I thought her work was great. Then I saw the work of Walter Hill and he did oils. He was one of my grandma’s sisters sons and he would come out to the cabin to paint. He was also a trumpet player and a ventriloquist, he had a band and nightclub in Minneapolis with his wife. He was a good artist, I liked him and I liked his work.”
Son: So you were inspired by their work, did you start painting then?
Dad: No, my first art class was not until the first year in college at the University of Minnesota, everything before then was done in pastels because they were cheap in the schools. My teacher picked up my very first pastel and said, “Now this is how a pastel is supposed to look. (And then he shook his head) Ya, pastel was always my favorite. I probably shouldn't tell you this, I was in college for Industrial Arts and had a minor in Fine Arts, but then I thought it might be fun to teach art. School was a lot of work drawing houses, buildings and general architecture. Somewhere there is a Jr. High there is a file cabinet full of my work, I wonder where that is, 37 years worth. I taught Industrial Arts in 1960 until the Mill Levy failed after a couple of years and I had to fill the position of Art Teacher.
Son: Cool, Dad, what was your art like, or what were you in to back in the 60’s?
Dad: We had a very active art program back then. We traveled all over the state to Museums and to raise money we had art shows with clowns, students selling their art work and doing caricatures, which we sold to make money. I would do the scenery for operettas with the students. I must have done 30 of them. You know I met your mother doing the scenery for a local theater group called The Curtain Callers. She loved to do skits. One time she disappeared while we were working on a set and returned dressed as a man with a mustache and did an impromptu drivers ed skit in front of about 30 people and floored them. I made an oil painting of some trees that was 60 ft long and 16 ft high with some help from some of the more talented kids. I made the HMS Pinafore 3 times for the Pirates of Penzance. And one of them was two stories tall and you could stand on top of the wheel house. For Little Abner I made a huge cabin and a cave 30 ft. long, it was so big you could not get it off the stage, we had to take it apart-they couldn't use the gym for months. (Looking off into the distance) That was the biggest art adventure I had ever done. Kids today they don’t know what hard work is, we worked for our art.
Son: Dad you probably have warehouses and warehouses full of your stuff?
Dad: Ya, the basement of the Jr. High is full of my stuff.
Son: Where do you draw your subject matter?
Dad: By looking at things. I would take my motor bikes out in the Snowy's and the Judith's and make sketches and then bring them home and improve them. (Very proudly) I have never bought a card in my life I have always made them by hand with pastels.
Son: Dad, thanks, people in the community are going to love learning more about you.See More
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